Sacrifices
by xXILuvRobertPattinsonXx
Summary: Bella is living with her brother, dad, and stepmom when jer life is turned upsaide down and she is forced to leave home leaving her loving brother behind. She has no idea whats going to happen all she knows is being on the streets in her town isnt safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter one**

_**BPOV**_

I sat there and stared out my window at the snow falling swiftly out of the sky. This window I was staring out had been apart of so many escape ideas I had planned but never actually done. My mind started drifting and I lost all consciousness of everything around me as I was lost in my thoughts.

"BELLA, COME DOWN HERE!" Charlie my father yelled up at me.

But I was too lost in my thoughts to hear my father yelling up at me and so I didn't notice when heavy footsteps came thumping loudly up the stairs. Suddenly the door to my room, at the very top of the house in the attic, flew open and Charlie came stomping in.

"BELLA!" Charlie screamed at me.

"Huh?" I said as I came back to reality just noticing Charlie.

"I HAVE BEEN CALLING YOU FOR THE PAST HALF HOUR! WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP HERE?" He yelled making me very scared.

"I….I….I'm sorry…I…I…I didn't know….I was….was…cleaning." I lied out of sheer fear.

I had no idea why my father would come up to my room. He never went past his room on the second floor. I stayed all the way up in the attack two stories up! I feared that something terrible was going on.

"THE FIRE IS OUT OF COAL AND WE ARE ALL STARVING AND DYING OF THIRST WHILE YOU SAT UP HERE AND CLEANED WE COULD OF DIED OF THIRST AND STARVATION!" Charlie still yelled at me

"I'm sorry I'll go and get some coal and then start dinner right away, Sir" I said.

I only called him Sir because that was the only thing which Charlie said I could call him. I waited until Charlie had went downstairs then I threw my coat and my boots on and went down the small staircase to the third floor. I went down the hallway and slipped out the fire escape and started running down the stairs. I walked to the shed out back where we kept our extra coal that didn't fit inside. I grabbed a bunch up in my apron and ran to the side of the house and through the kitchen door. I walked through the kitchen and the dining room and went across the hall to the sitting room where my father, step mom, and brother, Emmett, were. I ran to the fireplace and dropped the coal in front of it and got the shovel.

"Bells let me help you do that." My brother Emmett said.

Emmett was sixteen, two years older than me and was my real brother. He was born before me but after my mother had given birth to me she just up and left us. Leaving me and Emmett with my dad Charlie. Then about two years ago my dad got remarried to my step mom, Rebecca Black. My dad favored my brother more because he said when Emmett got a little older he could take over the family business, Swan and Family Firms. I however was only good for cooking and cleaning in his eyes so that's what I had to do.

"EMMETT DO NOT HELP HER YOU SHOULDN'T BE DOING THAT KIND OF WORK!" Charlie yelled as Rebecca smiled behind him, obviously pleased.

"Why shouldn't I dad?" Emmett asked him.

"Because, son," Charlie put his arm around Emmett, "you won't need to know how to do that later in life. That's what we have servants for…" Charlie tried to explain giving me a look over his shoulder that would kill.

"BELLA IS NOT A SERVANT DAD," Emmett yelled interrupting Charlie, "SHE'S YOUR DAUGHTER!"

"TO YOUR ROOM EMMETT!" Charlie screamed

"BU," Emmett started.

"NO, NOW!!" Charlie interrupted this time.

Emmett whispered sorry to me and walked out of the room and his steps echoed the hallway as he stomped up the stairs as loud as he could showing his anger. I felt bad for all that happening to him. Gosh, Charlie could be an ass! I finished adding the coals to the fire and announced I was going to make dinner and I walked to the kitchen.

"EMM…" I started to yell but someone was putting their hand over my mouth muffling my words.

"Shhhh!" Emmett hushed me.

"What are you doing in here Emmett?" I whispered.

"You have to leave Bells, the sooner the better!" Emmett whispered.

"NO! I won't leave you!" I said almost too loudly.

"You have to! Trust me I'm better off here than you are anyways!" Emmett tried to say in a convincing way to me.

"No, I can't do it." I said as I started cooking dinner.

"Ok, I'll drop it for now, but I will talk to you about this again Bells, I will get you out of here." Emmett promised.

Emmett hugged me tightly and snuck out of the side door up the fire escape ladder and through the window to his room before I had the chance to say anything back. I finished dinner, steak with mashed potatoes, corn and some bread, and I went and set the table with the food. I called Charlie and Rebecca in to eat because I knew Emmett had been punished and wouldn't be allowed to eat. That's what always happened when he was sent to his room, which he was a lot because of his "childish behavior". This was basically him teasing me in the way only brothers can, or even being nice to me got him in trouble anymore. So I served them and went back to the kitchen, and waited for them to finish. I wasn't allowed to eat with them I had to wait till they were done. After about an hour they had finished and I went in and cleaned up the table and I put the rest in a picnic basket and snuck outside and ran through the snow in socks and my dress without my coat to hide it in the icebox so I could eat it later. See I wasn't allowed to eat their food I had to eat the scraps so when they had leftovers I saved them for later that night or when I needed it. After I had hid them I ran back inside and I blew the candles out in all of the lamps around the house and I made my way to my attic room. I slipped on my pajamas and crawled onto my cot Charlie provided for me in the corner. It was one of the only things in the room. I had the cot in one corner, a shelf with very few things against the opposite wall, and a basin against the back. As soon as my head hit the pillow I drifted of into a deep sleep.

I woke up to Emmett shaking me and when I looked at that small window it was still dark outside. I groaned.

"Emmett, what do you want it's still night and I'm tired!" I mumbled settling back in my blankets to go back to sleep.

"Bella, wake up!" Emmett said while shaking me.

"What Emmett?" I whispered.

"I'm Hungry!" Emmett complained.

"Oh my God Emmett!!" I moaned.

"Pweese!" Emmett begged as he gave me his puppy dog eyes that never work. He outgrew that years ago.

"Fine, I guess ill get you something because I am hungry and your in trouble because of me anyways, so just sit here I guess…" I said as mean as I could.

"YEA BOI!" Emmett cheered as quiet as he could.

I got out of bed and put on my boots and my coat. I told Emmett to stay there one last time as I slipped out my door and tiptoed down the stairs, down the hall, out that familiar window, and down the fire escape. When I reached the bottom I ran through the snow and to the icebox. I snuck inside picked up the basket of leftovers and went all the way back up to my room all they way up in the attic.

"Here is your food." I said while tossing the basket at him.

"Thanks!" He said digging in.

"Mhmm" I replied trying to take some food out of the basket, barely managing but even with his hog-self I got what I wanted and ate till I felt I would explode. It had been a while since I had this feeling, years even. I barely ever got anything to eat that was probably the main reason I was so tiny.

We sat like that for a while, just talking while he ate. We talked about tons of stuff, like how stupid Charlie was being, how we hated Rebecca, and how good he thought my food was. When we were all done I put the crumbs on the window sill for the birds to eat in the morning and I started down to the kitchen. I walked the same way I had that morning and I put the basket away. I was walking out of the pantry where I kept the basket when I tripped and fell and the bang echoed through the WHOLE house! Suddenly I heard Charlie yelling as he was coming down the stairs and he sounded MAD!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

**BPOV**

The thumping from Charlie's feet grew louder and louder and I knew there was no use in running he would see me and that would just piss him off more. I quickly sat up and hugged my knees awaiting Charlie's arrival in the kitchen. About three seconds later Charlie came bustling in reeking of alcohol with a beer in one hand and walking a tad crookedly. He looked over the entire kitchen which took a while but then his eyes fell on me and I'm sure he could hear my gulp even from so far away. I was about to enter one of the worst parts of hell here on Earth there was.

"BELLA! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING DOWN HERE AT THIS HOUR?" Charlie screamed so loud I was sure the whole street could hear.

"I…I…I was getting some water….I was th….thirsty." I whimpered I almost couldn't speak I was so scared.

"BELLA SWAN YOU ARE LYING TO ME I CAN FEEL IT!" Charlie accused me.

He had caught me, what was I supposed to do now? Somehow even though he was so drunk, I don't know how he was still conscious, he knew I was lying. I was so scared; tears were falling down my face making my face turn red and my knees soaked where my head was resting. I didn't know wat to say so I sat there on the kitchen floor and cried. I heard more footsteps and I thought to myself please don't be Emmett please! It was, naturally. I tried to motion with for him with my hand to go back upstairs I didn't want him to get in trouble again. Even though he was a pain in the ass I couldn't let him do this for me.

"Charlie stop yelling at Bella." Emmett tried to say in the nicest way to Charlie.

"I WILL DO NO SUCH THING! AND YOU WOULD DO BETTER TO KEEP YOUR SORRY LITTLE ASS OUTTA THIS!"

"NO! YOU HAVE PUNISHED HER ENOUGH FOR SHIT THAT WAS INNOCENT AND STUPID!" Emmett fumed.

Everything happened so fast I didn't know what was going on. Emmett had knocked Charlie over and was hitting him repeatedly anywhere his hands found. But then Rebecca had to come down the stairs I knew that would just make Emmett even more mad. Rebecca screamed and tried to pull Charlie out from under Emmett. I got up and started trying to pull Emmett off of Charlie though I didn't want to I was just trying to save Emmett. Rebecca pulled Charlie off to their room upset at him only because he was the one getting beat up. That didn't surprise me though. What freaked me out was that she could pull him around. I turned to face Emmett and saw he had his share of blood from that mini fight.

"Emmett, why did you do that?" I sighed.

"Because Bells, he can't keep doing this to you! And I care too much to just let it happen!" Emmett confessed.

"Whoa! Hold on what happened to my annoying always teasing me big brother?" I asked stunned.

"Bella, I tease you, yea, its my job I'm the big brother. But I'm not going to sit here while Charlie is being a f…an effin bitch!" Emmett said.

"You have to! I don't care what the hell happens to Charlie or Rebecca or me. I just don't want him to hurt you. You're the only 'true' family I've got right now!" I cried.

"Well I wont sit here and watch this shit. You to have to get away!" Emmett said again.

"NO! EMMETT I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU!" I yelled not caring who heard me.

"Bells your tired and overwhelmed just go to bed, but this talk isn't over." Emmett said as he walked back upstairs not looking back at me.

I walked upstairs not knowing what was coming in the next few days but I was too distracted to really think about it. I went upstairs and slept till morning. It was a restless sleep, full of nightmares and a whole bunch of tossing and turning. But morning came just like every other day. Reminding me of reality and that it wasn't so much better than the nightmares. Then I got dressed and went downstairs, Emmett was still sleeping and so was Rebecca. "Great" I thought to myself. Charlie is up...what am I going to do?

"Bella?" Charlie called.

"Uh, yea Charlie?" I said back.

"Come here!"

"Coming…"

I walked into the room where he was but i didn't see him there so I turned around to leave but there he was closing the door looking as though he were ready to kill! I suddenly remembered yesterday and I instantly couldn't breathe! 'Oh No!' I thought! He walked over to me and looked down shaking his head repeating my name over and over. 'Shit,' I thought ',what am I going to do?' I looked up at Charlie and gulped.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Ok well I forgot to put this on the first two chapters. But this is really just my original story I took off. I needed to do some serious editing, haha. And I wanted to change some things. But same storyline and all just edited and hopefully improved (: so lemme know whatcha think.

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Chapter 3

**BPOV**

"Charlie…please…I didn't mean t…t…to make you…so….well pissed!" I said knowing nothing would work.

He had been drinking again and that meant he was not going to listen to me and I knew it. I braced myself and I thought of all the things he could do to me. 'Please, please don't let him do what I think he's going to!' I thought over and over in my head. I was pretty sure I would get the same punishment as always but I hoped and prayed I didn't...

"Follow me Bella." He said those words so seriously I didn't say a word as I dragged my feet behind him.

He took me through the parlor down the stairs down that damn hallway, which seemed like we walked down forever, and he turned into the same room as always and he turned around and looked at me.

"Do you know what happens next Bella?" He asked me.

"Yea sir, I do." I whispered.

"Well then go get THE DAMN BOX!" he started yelling mid sentence.

"Ok I'm sorry sir." I whimpered, damn I'm such a coward sometimes.

I walked toward the pantry, I didn't need to move the stool since it always stayed in the same spot. I climbed onto the stool; I swear my knees were indented in that thing! I reached up towards the top shelf and pulled that fucking box down and I hopped off the stool and walked towards the kitchen, and toward Charlie.

"Pour." He stated

"How much?" I asked

"TILL I SAY STOP DAMMIT BELLA!"

"Sorry sir! I'm sorry!" I pleaded.

I started pouring that box of dried grits on the floor and I kept pouring, and pouring, and pouring. I swear that pile looked like we had just brought the beach into our kitchen and only put it in the one spot before he finally said stop.

"Kneel." He demanded

I sighed and held my breath as I slowly lowered myself onto the pile. I sat there with my knees on the pile just a few minutes before I just started screaming in agony and Charlie being himself just told me to shut the fuck up. The longer that I sat there, the more drunk Charlie got, he just drank, and drank and KEPT drinking.

"Ok you're done. Now go to your room, we'll get Emmett to cook for punishment. Although I'm sure it won't be as good as when you cook. He might burn down the kitchen which I will blame on you as usual for whatever may go wrong." He said looking around the room. Then he looked right at me and slapped me backhand across my face and I fell to the ground bleeding.

He was just trying to seem fierce because Rebecca had walked in the room. But I knew he was going to do it anyways even if she hadn't walked in. I was crying too much from the pain to really care. My knees looked terrible and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I walked as fast as I could with my knees how they were but the slightest movement hurt like hell. I finally made it to my room and I crashed on my bed. I lay there for hours on end. I just couldn't move, but after a while I walked over to that tiny window. I opened it just a tad and scooped up a handful of snow and brought it inside. I found my tiny washbasin bowl that had been bone dry for years and put the snow in there. It was fresh snow so it wasn't dirty yet thankfully for what I was about to do with it, it needed to be clean. I got the towel from the side and I laid it on my bed then I dragged the bowl onto the floor and put it by my bed. I reached into the bowl and melted all that snow with my bare hands and then sat on the bed. I started crying knowing this would sting but I had to do it. I dipped the towel in the water and I brought the towel to my knees and the pain worsened as the water got in.

"What are you doing?" Emmett asked puzzled standing in my doorway pain written across his face.

"N…n….n...nothing Emmett! Cant you knock?" I argued trying to hide my knees and the bowl.

"That sure as hell 'aint nothing," Emmett argued, "Bells what did he do to you? Honestly what?"

"…dry grits…" I mumbled.

"THAT'S IT!" Emmett yelled.

"That's what?" I snarled.

He didn't reply he just reached his hand under my bed and pulled out my ratty bag I had never used and started throwing my few clothes into it.

"Be right back. Don't you dare move or touch that bag." He said so seriously I didn't dare.

I waited, and waited, and waited some more till finally he came back up carrying a bunch of bread and dried meat from outside. He started shoving it into my bag wrapped up in a cloth.

"Leave this here, till tonight. I'm getting you out of here." He stated.

"Emmett…there isn't anything I can do to change your mind, I can tell. But I'm going to miss you so much." I said tears falling down my even redder face.

"I'm going to miss you to Bella. But we will see each other again. If you get away and find somewhere to go maybe they will help you figure something out. You're a smart girl you'll know what to do." Emmett said placing his hand on my cheek studying the hand mark; I had never seen him like this before.

So I was leaving…great…what could go wrong? Right?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**BPOV**

So Emmett was going to get me out of here, I hope this works. We went throughout the day as if nothing was wrong. When Charlie yelled at me Emmett didn't say anything he just sat there and gave me this 'I told you so' look. So no one expected anything, this seemed like it would work! Then that night I was upstairs waiting for Emmett because he told me he was going to come up later once Charlie and Rebecca were out, and then I heard the thumping feet coming up the stairs.

"Emmett?" I called into the dark staircase.

"Emmett?" I cried again getting a little scared, I mean no one had answered. Emmett would answer wouldn't he? Was it someone else?

"EMMETT ANSWER ME DAMMIT!"I screamed tears falling down my face.

Those footsteps grew louder and louder and the louder they got the more scared I got. Finally I saw a shadow appearing around the corner of the stairs. That was no Emmett the shadow was to big, I suddenly shoved my bag under the bed and threw a blanket over me pretending to be asleep. I heard the footsteps in my room and I turned around pretending I was just turning in my sleep so they wouldn't see my eyes. I felt something fall onto the bed and the footsteps went away growing fainter every second. As soon as I heard them far down the stairs I turned around and looked at what was laying on the bed. I heard more footsteps faster this time, it was Emmett. I tried to hide what the person had put on my bed fast so Emmett wouldn't see I didn't want him to jump to conclusions.

"What the hell was that?" Emmett asked looking freaked out.

"It's not mine I promise! I just saw it on my bed!" I tried to explain but not telling him about that footsteps.

"Then who put it there? Huh?" he questioned.

"I don't know." I said looking down.

"Uh-huh, right." He looked disappointed.

"HONEST EMMETT WHY DON'T YOU TRUST ME?" I yelled.

"Cause Bella, you hate him and a fucking butcher knife you're trying to hide from me doesn't help you seem any less innocent in any way!" he yelled back.

"But I told you its not mine…" I started explaining.

We spent some time trying to explain what had happened. Finally he believed me, well somewhat, and he pulled my bag out from under the bed and a note came out with it.

"What's this?" Emmett asked.

"I don't know." I said taking it from his hand.

"It just says 'I want you to have this. Maybe you can do what I've been trying to do for a while now. Use it well.' No signature." I said.

"SCARY" Emmett commented.

"Well no duh!" I said hitting him playfully on the arm.

"You don't have to be so mean about it missy!" Emmett teased.

"See if I leave we wont get to have fun like this!" I said.

"You ruined the moment!" Emmett laughed.

"Sorry." I said…not really sorry.

"Ok come on." Emmett said as he stood up.

"To where?" I asked him.

"Just come." He stated so I followed.

He picked up my bag on the way out and we started walking.

"Wait!" he called.

"What?" I asked confused.

"We better get rid of this!" he proclaimed.

He picked up the knife, opened my tiny window, and he broke the knife with a rock from the ledge(he had always been so strong), and he threw it out into the lake by our house(which always made it smell salty so we didn't go out side much, not that I would be allowed anyways besides just the icebox and such).

"Ok, now we are ready, I didn't want anyone to find it." he said while walking out of the room.

"Ok?" I said not really knowing what was going on with him.

We walked out of the room and down the stairs and through the window by the fire escape. Through the hedges in front of our house and onto the sidewalk, where we stopped and Emmett handed me my bag.

"So this is it?" I asked tears in my eyes.

"This is it." he told me.

"Emmett I'm going to miss you so much!" I said while hugging him tightly.

"Bells, I'm going to miss you to." He replied while he hugged me back.

"Will I ever see you again?" I asked hoping the answer was yes.

"I don't know Bella, I don't know." That's all he said.

"I love you Emmett." I said even surprising myself, we never said that to each other.

"Hah, I love you too Bells." He replied

That was pretty much all that got out for the next half-hour. We just stood there on the sidewalk hugging and crying with each other. I didn't know Emmett had enough emotion in him to cry and be sad. When I was little he would always tell me 'Be happy and suck it up something better's gunna come'. Damn I hope he was right about that. Eventually though that moment had to end, he stopped hugging me and pushed me away lightly looking into my face.

"Here." He said handing me some money.

"What's that for?" I asked.

"Food, water, anything you need. It's not much but it's all I had." He answered.

"I can't take this!" I replied.

"Your gunna! I want you to at least have some money!" Emmett practically yelled.

"Fine." I said stubbornly as I took it and stuck it in my bag.

"Bye Bells." Emmett said.

"Bye Emmett, love you." I said starting to walk away.

I started walking away down the road trying to keep the tears from falling down my face but it was no use. Just then I heard Emmett start running I thought it was in the other direction but suddenly I felt his big arms around me wrapping me in one of his famous bear hugs. I hugged him back tears streaming down my face. He kissed my cheek and whispered in my ear 'love you too' then started walking back in that damned house. I vowed right then and there I would see me brother again no matter what happened to me. I started walking down our road; the sun was peeking up over those mountains that were around our whole city and the sky turning the prettiest pinks and purples and oranges I had ever seen. I walked and walked not knowing where to go tears streaming down my face the whole time. People started leaving the house and getting in their Model T and heading to their office or store where they work like slaves every day. Everyone I passed gave me weird looks as if I shouldn't be there, which I shouldn't have been. I walked right into our so called 'downtown' the busiest place for miles around. People from everywhere always found their way there. But it wasn't really pretty which I imagined a downtown should be.

I was getting awfully hungry so I walked down an alley and hid behind a pile of trash, 'runaway's' weren't supposed to be in the city or anywhere for that matter, so we got thrown in jail if they caught us but I had nowhere else to go! That wasn't my fault? Was it? I pulled out some bread and meat and nibbled some of both till my stomach at least felt halfway full. I didn't know how long I'd be like this so I had to save my food and use as little money as I could. That's how I spent the next few weeks; hiding behind trash, running from police, eating as little as I could, sleeping anywhere I could where no one could see me or find me more hopefully. My birthday actually past in that time I was fifteen. If I were still back home Charlie would still be treating me the exact same way not even acknowledging my birthday. It wasn't fun out here on the streets, in fact I hated it. But Emmett would kill me if I came back, but I didn't want to go back, as bad as this was it was better then living in that house. I had no relatives though, I was stranded.

So I got dirtier and dirtier, hungrier and hungrier, I had used some money to buy milk or some more bread occasionally but I didn't have much left. One day I was eating bread and drinking a little bit of my milk when I heard someone coming down the alley. I couldn't tell if they were an adult or just another kid. I just knew I had to get outta there. I suddenly jumped up and started running as fast as I could right past the person walking towards me. I didn't even see they're face all I figured out was it was a guy, a little taller than me with long dark hair.

"EY!" the person called after me.

They sounded my age, but I couldn't be too careful. I kept running and running, they were following me too! 'What was I gunna do? Shit, a dead end was coming!' I was done for.


End file.
